Alastair Cook: We aren't winning games playing like this

A dejected England skipper, Alastair Cook, wants plenty of improvements from his side if they are to overturn the 1-0 deficit in the 5-match ODI series against India. The hosts were crushed by a massive 133-run margin under D/L method in the second match at Cardiff on Wednesday. The first ODI at Bristol had been rained off on Monday.

Chasing 295 for victory in 47 overs, England collapsed to 161 all-out, with only debutant, Alex Hales, showing some stomach for fight. "If we play like that we're not going to win many games of cricket," said Cook.

"But the talent in the changing room is there and we've got a lot of improvement to do. We didn't play very well, and we've paid for that today," he added.

Taking heart from the recent Test series, England came back from 0-1 down after the first two Tests to eventually triumph by a 3-1 margin, Cook hoped for a repeat of the same in the ODIs as well. "But it's one game, isn't it? It's one day of cricket. When you don't get it right - like we haven't today - it's not the end of the world at all. It's frustrating. You don't win every game of cricket you play and you certainly don't win many when you play like that. The lads in the changing room will know that. They don't need me to tell them. So, it's dust ourselves off and try to come back and play better next time," he said.

Cook said the margin of defeat made it extremely hard for him to find any positives in England's dire performance. "Obviously, it wasn't a 300 wicket and it wasn't a 160 wicket," he said.

Cook singled out all-rounder, Chris Woakes, and debutant, Alex Hales, for some praise though. "But we could look at some good spots, I suppose. I thought Chris Woakes (4-52) bowled nicely up front, and came back pretty strong when the carnage was happening."

"Alex Hales played really well. He'll know that scoring 40s don't win you games. But he batted the same way I've seen him play for Nottinghamshire and that's a really good start. He hits a really clean ball, and can win games of cricket. But as a batting unit as a whole, apart from that first nine or ten overs, 160 on that wicket wasn't good enough," he added.

Moeen Ali was a surprise exclusion from the team for the second ODI and Cook admitted it was a tough call to leave one of the success stories of the Test series out. "That was another tough call. You saw what James Tredwell brings to the side. He's done really well in his 30-odd games and is a really canny operator. But at some stage, I think we'll see Moeen play because of his huge development this year in Test cricket. If he can make those strides in One-day cricket as well, he gives us another option if we want to play a slightly different side," said Cook.